


an open door

by Seascribe



Category: The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Genre: Coming of Age, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Reconciliation, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-11
Updated: 2013-01-11
Packaged: 2017-11-25 03:12:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/634507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seascribe/pseuds/Seascribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cottia and her mother, reconciliation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	an open door

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Carmarthen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmarthen/gifts).



> Written for More Joy Day 2013.

Cottia did not expect that her mother would come to the wedding. It is a long journey to make, especially for a daughter not even dear enough to keep at the family hearth, and there had not been much notice. Cottia did not even _want_ her to come. She would only have said something unkind, making Aunt Valaria upset and Marcus and his Uncle Aquila uncomfortable. Better for everyone that she stays away!

"I am sure she would be proud, if she could see the woman you've grown up to be," Aunt Valaria says, straightening Cottia's veil.

"I do not give a fig for what she would think!" Cottia cries. She is a woman grown, and today she is going to her wedding, and tomorrow she will begin the running of her own household. "She doesn't matter anymore," Cottia whispers, and bursts into tears.

*  
The travellers coming down the hillside track are unexpected. Traders seeking shelter on the way to the market in Regnorum, perhaps, or itinerant labourers. In any case, they will require hospitality, and Cottia goes into the house to prepare food and drink. She is surprised to hear Marcus calling for her before she has finished. He sounds odd and rather strained. Crossing the atrium, Cottia hears a familiar voice, the same one that she remembers crooning cradle songs to her when she was very small. It feels as though someone has dropped a stone into her belly.

Her mother looks much changed, with new lines around her mouth and grey shot through her fiery hair. The man with her must be Cottia's brother, though she would not ever know it to look upon him, he has changed so much with his growing up.

"Good fortune on the house, and on the woman of the house," Cottia's mother says softly.

Cottia can feel the weight of Marcus and Esca's eyes on her, standing here before the home they have built up with their own hands, piece by piece. If she were to turn around and shut the door forever on the past, she knows that they would go with her. It is her choice to make.

"You have had a long journey," Cottia says. "Do you come inside and be welcome."


End file.
